


The Watchdog And The Ice Prince

by RiaDan



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Banken Hero AU, Brave Victor Nikiforov, Feelings, First Meetings, Fluff, From Watchdog to Hero, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Insecurities, M/M, Other, Protective Katsuki Yuuri, Secret Crush, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Vulnerable Victor Nikiforov, a little violence, figure skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23682607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiaDan/pseuds/RiaDan
Summary: "I wish I can be stronger in order to protect you rather than the other way round..."Yuuri Katsuki wants to be strong and cool in front of Victor Nikiforov, college student extraordinaire and internationally famous figure skating star.However, all he manages to do is getting protected by his crush instead.What can a guy do to win the heart of the love of his life when fate always seems against it?!
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	The Watchdog And The Ice Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Hey^^
> 
> I really liked the oneshot from Mitsui Haruka called 'Banken Hero' or 'Watchdog Hero', so I decided to do a oneshot inspired by this story as well!
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it!
> 
> All the best,  
> Ria
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own this Anime, both Manga and its characters^^.

Over the years he’s never ceased to surprise him.

From the first time Yuuri saw him skate until now, he’s been one surprise after another, enchanting the Japanese with his whole existence.

Yuuri has never found himself under such an intense attraction like he is drawn to Victor Nikiforov, college student extraordinaire and internationally famous figure skating star. He even started figure skating because of his crush in his early teens due to his admiration.

If his friends ask him, how he would describe his crush, he would reply like this:

His cerulean eyes shine brighter than the stars in the sky.

His silver hair is more beautiful than the light of the moon.

And his laughter more melodious than the sounds of bells.

And his smile! Oh his lovely smile always gives him butterflies.

But what Yuuri doesn’t says is that every time he sees the beautiful silver-haired man, his feelings just get stronger and even though he is quite weak, he wants to become the hero who protects Victor with all his heart.

Even if fate always plays against him.

“Hey stop it!!!”, Victor screams loudly, trying to free his hand out of the pushy stranger’s grasp. They guy had asked him for some directions to the next railway station and then tried to feel him up, while the silver-haired college student was explaining the fastest way to said station.

A dark shadow pushes in between Victor and his assaulter, holding a protective arm in front of the Russian.

“He said stop it! Can’t you hear him!”, Yuuri says determined to the stranger, trying to stop his body and voice from shaking in fear.

The other guy has bleached red hair and is a lot bigger than him as he towers over the Japanese college student.

Yuuri’s stomach squeezes in an uncomfortable way and he wants to vomit.  
He’d done it again. Taking action without thinking because Victor was in danger. God help him through it!

Caught up in his thoughts, the brown-eyed man with blue glasses doesn’t see the punch to his face coming before it is too late.

He goes down with a groan, blood gushing from his nose.

Victor looks at Yuuri in horror, a gasp leaving his mouth. Then the cerulean-eyed man turns to the attacker angrily and lifting him up by his shirt, his voice cold and deadly serious, “What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?! You know, normally I wouldn’t really care about people like you, but you made me really angry right now!” The cerulean-eyed college student puts the stranger on the ground, smiles at him before punching him with ferocity in the face.

The guy whimpers from the pain, howling like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs and scrambles up to run away, screaming that he is sorry and won’t bother them again.

Yuuri wants to die. Why does this always happen to him? He only wants to protect the guy he likes, but gets protection every time from him instead. He is such a pathetic mess! He only shows Victor his uncool sides.

The figure skater crouches down next to the Japanese, “Yuuri? Are you alright?”

The dark-haired college student looks up and whimpers, embarrassed deep down to his very bones.

“Oh shit! He got you good! You are bleeding! Wait, I have a handkerchief and some tissue!”, Victor tugs at his bag and rummages through it, before doing proxi-first-aid on him.

“It’s really no big deal! I can still skate tomorrow”, Yuuri tries to calm his worried clubmate.

Victor looks at him in disbelief, “Are you sure?! Yuuri, you aren’t holding back to make me feel at ease? I can ask Yakov and Celestino to let you off the hook for some time to recover properly.”

“I’m not. I’m not”, the Japanese waves his hands dismissively, “Thankfully everything turned out fine. By the way the middle schooler from yesterday returned my wallet to me. Nothing was missing. But he was apologizing over and over again, saying he will never do it again. What did you do to him, Victor?”

The silver-haired figure skater worries his lips while checking over Yuuri’s injuries, “Nothing in particular. I just ended up running my mouth at him a little like today.”

Aha. So he used his fists on him too.

But if Victor gets that easy into fights, it could end up dangerous pretty fast.

“You shouldn’t use your fists so much, Victor. Picking fights with certain types of people is dangerous. You could get hurt and then I… and then I…!”

Victor pats him on his head, “It’s fine, Yuuri. I’m strong and can handle myself. I know which fights to pick and which to avoid. I think, you are the one, who should be more careful from now on. You always make me worry.”

The Japanese lowers his gaze, his face stained with shame. Ouch. That hurt.

“You’re right… Thanks for helping me out. I’m sorry for always being such a burden…”, he murmurs, unable to look Victor into his eyes.

It’s so frustrating to be so weak!

Victor lets out a sigh, “Yuuri, I didn’t mean–“

“It’s okay, you are right”, Yuuri interrupts him and looks at his watch, “Victor, don’t you have your private skating lesson with Yakov now?”

The Russian’s face pales, “Oh shit! I completely forgot! Thanks for reminding me!”

Yuuri chuckles, “You’re welcome. Do your best!”

Victor smiles at him, “See you later!”, and then runs off to the ice rink.

Yuuri stares after him until he vanishes on the horizon.

He lets out a tired sigh and yelps, when someone squeezes into his sides.

“Hello, idle hero!”, his best friend Phichit appears from behind him with his other childhood friends Yuuko and Takeshi in tow.

Yuuri turns impossibly red, “YOU GUYS WERE SECRETLY WATCHING ME, WEREN’T YOU?!?!

Phichit grins at him widely, his dark grey eyes sparkling and his black hair waving slightly in the light breeze, “Blame it on your reputation! We were watching to make sure you two didn’t cause any further problems. Yuuko was ready to call the police in the worst case!”

Takeshi starts laughing, while starring at Yuuri’s flushed face. The shade has reached a deep crimson, “Your face just now is priceless, Yuuri!” The burly dark-haired man with thick eyebrows and dark eyes pats his friend encouragingly on the shoulder.

Yuuko smiles at her childhood friend apologetically. Her reddish-brown hair shimmering in the sun. She has chestnut-brown eyes and is called the Madonna of their college. She ruffles Yuuri through his hair, “Victor’s really something. He held up a big guy like that without breaking a sweat and then punched him mercilessly in the face. Very surprising for such a slender figure skater.”

“Yup, he’s **a lot cooler** than someone I know”, Takeshi adds and gets smacked by Yuuko, “What was that for?”

His girlfriend gives him a pointed stare and he turns silent.

Yuuri grimaces.

Victor Nikiforov, whom he is crushing on since he first saw him skating on television, is fair and charming. He looks like a real-life prince that’s why he is also called the Ice Prince due to his success in figure skating around the college campus. He looks so soft and elegant that nobody would believe how strong he can be.

Yuuri remembers when one player from the baseball club nearly hit Yuuri with a baseball to his face weren’t it for Victor, who shielded him and caught the ball to throw it back and yell at them to be more careful of innocent passer-by’s.

Or how the Russian always helps out the teachers with preparations for various lessons, which Yuuri attends by chance. Yuuri always tries to be someone reliable to Victor, helping him carrying heavy boxes, books and other utensils, only to make a fool of himself in the end by stumbling over his own feet or hurting himself with a scalpel, etc.

There was also that other time, when a grandmother wanted to visit her grandchild and asked for directions and Victor carried her all the way to the family’s house with Yuuri trailing behind them, carrying the heavy luggage of the nice old lady. He also remembers collapsing on the veranda after bidding farewell to the thankful family and Victor carrying him home with a piggyback because Yuuri was unable to take another step. His sister wouldn’t let him live that down ever.

Then there was that incident with the stuck red balloon in the tree as well, where Yuuri said that he will climb up to get it, so Victor wouldn’t injure himself. He only remembers trying to climb the tree and landing in Victor’s arms after grabbing unsuccessfully for the balloon and the Russian proposing an acrobatic stunt to then get the toy out of the branches.

He always tries to become Victor’s man to turn to, even if he always fails in the end. But looking back at all the incidents, the Japanese wants to grovel on the ground and hide himself under his blanket forever.

No! He can’t give up now! He’ll get stronger!

He fists his hands and holds them up to the sky, “Just you wait! I’ll get stronger in no time! And become the reliable man he needs!”

Takeshi snorts, Yuuko looks at him in concern and Phichit happily takes some pictures of his weird pose, posting it on his Instagram account under #KatsudonOnFire and #FigureSkatingGoals.

Yuuri trains hard. Harder than ever.

He tries to concentrate on his club activities, tries to outdo himself under Celestino’s guidance, Yurio’s rude remarks, Chris’s encouraging words and Victor’s worried side-glances.

His blond teammate Yurio or also called ‘the Russian Fairy’ or ‘the Ice Tiger’ even drags him away from the ice to a near bench for a break under the watch of his angry green eyes, after Yuuri refused to go without some pause for two hours straight. And Christoph, Victor’s best friend with his bleached blond fringe and lime-green eyes, hands him an extra drink, saying he shouldn’t overdo it. Victor just hugs him quietly and Yuuri wants to die in embarrassment all over again.

So after training he does many squads, runs laps over laps over laps, until he isn’t able to count how many rounds he has completed. He runs at morning and after dinner. Does Yoga in between breaks and crawls to college with devastating muscle ache.

His friends watch him concerned, but try to encourage him as best as possible, knowing Yuuri won’t give up, when he made up his mind.

“Speaking of which, Victor’s running in the Club Representative’s Election, right?”, Phichit says one day, scrolling through some social media plattform on his beloved phone with hamster cover.

Takeshi stretches himself next to Yuuri, “That’s the college club that’s in charge of all the other clubs, right?”

Yuuko nods, drinking her limo, “Yup, yup! Because of this election, he’ll get to know more of the faculty students and rapidly gain more popularity. He’ll stand out for sure as he is already pretty popular.”

Phichit shows them his phone screen with the election picture of Victor, “Looks more like an idol’s photo than a lousy election picture! You’ll gain even more rivals, Yuuri!”

Yuuri gulps, looking dejectedly.

He waves at his friends, when he notices that Phichit, Yuuko and Takeshi still have their club meetings, while he is done for the day and should make his way home to finish his essay for next week.

The Japanese slowly walks down the halls, deep in thought.

He already knows that his chances are near none. The number of his rivals are incredible, but what gives him more of a headache than the amount of them is their amazing levels. So many are much more good looking than him or have better brains and don’t do idiotic and embarrassing things in front of their crush.

Yuuri lets his gaze wander and startles.

Victor and some immensely handsome guy, who is not his clingy best friend Christophe, are talking in the small garden next to the hall. The stranger has blond hair and they both look together like the ideal couple.

Yuuri dugs immediately under one of the pillars, hoping that they haven’t noticed him. He observes the guy, who is clearly flirting with Victor and bites down on his lower lip.

Who’s that really good-looking guy? He’s never seen him before. And Victor is laughing at something he said. He looks happy… Ah…

Who is Yuuri kidding? He’s steadily gaining a disadvantage. That’s why he doesn’t have the courage to confess his feelings. It’s really impossible. The dark-haired student feels like a shadow and so all he can do is watch. Why does god have no mercy on him?

He leans his head on the pillar, sighing deeply. He can’t hear what they’re saying from the distance and he isn’t even sure if he wants to hear–

“Ah! _Yuuuuuri_!”, Victor says happily and Yuuri jumps surprised.

He’s been noticed.

The silver-haired figure skater comes over to him, taking big steps, “Why are you hiding behind the pillar? Well, whatever”, he turns to the other student and waves at him with a smile, pushing at Yuuri’s back to start walking, “Well then, I’ll see you later at the meeting!”

The Japanese man blinks at him, “Is it okay?”, he takes a peek at the displeased college student, they left behind. That person looks like he wanted to say something…

“It’s okay!”, Victor responds, giving him a strong push on his back, “We’re going, okay?!”

Yuuri hums, “Oh-okay!” His face turning a little red, he sees how all the people glance at them and start whispering. The shy college student tries to stay calm, peeking at Victor from time to time, who’s attention is on his phone.

Yuuri smiles, while they walk side by side in silence.

Hey, Victor… is it okay to leave that good-looking guy behind and be together with him instead? Is Yuuri allowed to have a little hope?

When they walk past some Ramen shop, Victor takes Yuuri’s hand and guides him into the restaurant, “My treat, okay! I nearly forgot to thank you for jumping in to save me from that creep the other day!”

“Eh? Em… there is no need, Victor! In the end it was you, who–!”, Yuuri wants to protest, when he feels Victor’s hand on his cheek and stills.

The famous figure skater touches his bruises gently, a worried expression on his face, before he removes his hand and smiles gently.

“But you got injured because of me. I want to apologize for it and I know you like Ramen very much. And I checked their menu, they even have your favourite dish Katsudon!”, the cerulean-eyed figure skater says with a heart-shaped smile.

Yuuri turns red again, “Y-You remembered that…”

Victor remembered his favourite dish. He can now die as a happy man.

“Of course, Yuuri”, he says before he orders them two bowls of the dish.

The Japanese college student wants to smash his head on the table, but gets side-tracked again, when Victor brushes the tips of his fingers again over Yuuri's cheek.

“I hope, it won’t leave a scar”, the Russian looks very concerned.

Yuuri blushes again, feeling bashful, “If you really feel so bad about it, you should fix your habit of sticking your nose in other people’s business!”, he stammers without bite behind it. Seriously, Victor always has been like that ever since they’d first met in person.

He remembers their first meeting like yesterday:

Yuuri was on his way to his college on that day, it was still the first week of his new life for him and many other new students, and after some nerve-wrecking consideration and great back-up from his friends, he decided to try joining the figure skating club under Prof. Yakov Feltsman and Prof. Celestino Cialdini.

He also knew that Victor Nikiforov and Yuri Plisetsky are under Feltsman’s tutelage and so he knew that he would finally be able to meet his crush and beloved idol in person.

The Japanese has trained for years how to present himself to Victor and what his first words would be to him. Phichit filmed him times and times again to give him pointers against his awkwardness.

Whatever, as he said, Yuuri was on the way to his college to hand in his application letters for the club, when a sudden gust of wind caught his big brown envelope with his paperwork in it, because he was dumb enough to hold it tightly in his hands instead of putting it into his backpack.

He blames his nerves on it.

The envelope got carried away over the fence, separating the walkway from the adjourning river, and got mercifully stuck in a tree branch between the ground and the water.

Yuuri didn’t think much about it and jumped up to climb over the fence, but noticed soon that he jumped too early, screaming, “Oh shit!”, when he realized that he would fall into the river without being able to save his precious application form. He was hoping that the water wouldn’t be too deep, when suddenly he got pulled back by his upper body and was steadied on the small ground beyond the fence. The Japanese turned around to see ‘the’ Victor Nikiforov smiling at him, trying to hold him back from falling into the river, hearing an angry voice running up to them, “WHAT THE HELL? WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT? WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF?”

Oh yeah, that was the same day, he also made the acquaintance of Yuri Plisetsky. He had nearly forgotten. Please don't tell Yurio about it, he would be more than not amused.

Whatever, Yuuri’s face had been crimson and he stammered out, “NO! OF COURSE NOT! My envelope just got carried away by the wind and got stuck in this tree branch down there! I was trying to save it from falling into the river. It’s very important to me! It’s my club application! And I don’t want to lose it!”

At first the two Russians studied him for a bit, then Victor handed Yurio his skating bag and backpack and climbed over the fence, “I’ll help you.”

With joined effort they tried to reach the envelope, but the distance was too big for them.

Yuuri strained against the fence, grabbing on for purchase to not let the figure skater fall, “It’s okay already!! Give it up!! I can fill out a new one! I’ll just ask for an extension to hand it in!”

Yuri aka later Yurio scowled from behind them, “But the deadline is today. And I only think they’ll extend it under certain circumstances. So you’ll probably have to try in spring again!”

The Japanese’s face fell, “Well, if it can’t be helped–“

“Bullshit!”, Victor said under strained breath, “Just a little more… And we’ve got it! Don’t give up so fast! It’s too early for that!”

They strained and stretched and then “SPLASH!”

They both landed in the river that day with Victor holding up Yuuri’s envelope in a victory pose. It was safe and dry.

Yuuri remembers how Yurio had yelled at them after the silver-haired man handed the envelope to him, saying, “See! To never give up, when you know that it is possible, is to change the odds against you! Never forget that! You are the one to forge your own path!”

He also remembers how he apologized profusely to them and how Victor had laughed at him, while Yurio tried to dry both of them with his and Victor’s towels.

When the two Russians learned about which club Yuuri wanted to join, they even personally accompanied him to the registry to make sure the process was clear and went without any further hitches.

So, in the end his plans for their first meeting were totally ruined and his efforts wasted.

However, he would still cherish the memory, he made that day.

Yuuri eats his Katsudon and laughs at his clubmate, who exclaims “Vkusno!” before digging in heartily into the dish.

Victor has always been so meddlesome, always trying his best to help other people and always greeting everyone with a smile.

Yuuri is worried about him.

He takes a glance at the bandaged fist, the silver-haired man had used to punch the guy from a few days back in the face.

Victor is always willing to hurt himself to save anyone. If only he’d be more careful. And Yuuri wonders if maybe he could grow into the man to really be able to protect him.

They walk home in companionable silence that day.

Incidents like before repeat themselves because there is Yurio’s cat Potya in the tree and she won’t come down and of course, Victor has to use the balcony to stretch over, saying, “Come here! It’s dangerous to be so high up!”, with Yuuri behind him, trying to hold Victor back from falling down three floors onto the ground, exclaiming with tears, “Victor be careful! It’s dangerous to lean over that much!”

Or Victor’s own dog Makkachin, who sees something at the end of the road and starts running without paying attention to the traffic and Victor sprinting behind him to stop him without giving much thought to the cars himself and Yuuri trying to catch up and warn them from the danger of the road, before he nearly gets driven over himself.

Or the bullies at the child’s playground, where the Russian lectures the kids for a whole hour on how to treat your elders, only because they dumped mud on Yuuri’s hair.

Or the shoplifter at the convenience store, when the Japanese tried to pin the thief down after Victor caught him red-handed and ended up being hit in the jewels instead.

Or the bank robber incident. Yuuri thinks, he will never stop shaking from the thought of it alone.

Or… maybe he should just stop recounting all the events, they all give him great headaches anyway.

He grasps his books and notebook to prepare to leave the auditorium soon. The lecture was interesting and Yuuri thinks, he should review his notes soon and study in advance a little to concentrate on his new routine, he just got yesterday.

“Did you see the current votes for the Club Representatives?”, a female college student with blond hair with pigtails asks her friend with brunette long hair and red-rimmed glasses.

Yuuri decides to stop in his tracks and overhear a little bit of the conversation intentionally.

“I did, I did! Victor Nikiforov’s in the lead, right?”, the brunette responds.

Another guy joins the girl’s conversation. He has dark hair and piercings all over his face, “But I heard those votes were mostly from his fanclub.”

Pigtails giggles, “It’s good to be popular and look handsome, huh? Even when there is nothing behind that brain. It’s always like that… Be athletic, have a nice face and everything is fine!”

Man, are they harsh! Moreover, they completely miss the point! Yuuri grows angry. Victor is training hard for his success and he has the brains as well! In addition, he has a gentle and kind soul. So not only his appearance is pleasing, his insides are wonderful too.

Piercing face snorts, “But get real! With a face like that, mostly all the students would vote for him, right? I mean, have you seen his abs? He looks like an idol, so of course, he is popular!”

Red Glasses hums, “Yeah but… Why is he always with the guy that’s following him around like a puppy. You know, the one with the blue-rimmed glasses. He can do so **much** better.”

Pigtails turns around and sees Yuuri, she immediately slaps her friend on the shoulder, “Be quiet. He’ll hear you!”

The three hustle out of the room under the Japanese’s silent watch. Yuuri doesn’t know, what to think about their comments. So he decides against thinking anything and exits the auditorium as well.

He looks around the campus and spots Victor turning around the corner with his phone in his hands, his eyes focused on the screen.

“Ah Victor!”, the dark-haired college student yells, but the silver-haired man doesn’t hear him, smiling to his phone, deep in thought, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Yuuri tries catching up with him and sees the other go down the stairs, when Victor’s foot slips and he loses balance.

Shit, danger!

Yuuri runs faster, but before he can stop the figure skater from falling, the blond guy from the other day catches him expertly.

Victor blinks rapidly before waving his hands in front of the blond hunk nervously, “I’m so sorry! I was not looking where I was going! I was too deep in thought looking at–”, he blushes deeply, “Never mind!”

“Are you okay?”, the blond man asks smugly.

“Yeah, thank you!”, Victor wriggles out of the arms of the blond, takes his phone to hide the screen by pressing it to his chest and starts running embarrassed from the situation.

Yuuri notices now that he is just starring, his movements seem to have stilled some seconds ago and for a moment, he thinks about running after Victor to check on him, but then the blond guy notices him and turns to him with a grin.

“Hey! You’re the one from earlier, the watchdog, I presume! Are you sniffing around him again today? How pitiful!”, the stranger says for everyone to overhear.

The Japanese student averts his gaze, blushing from the discomfort of the situation.

He understands now. They're referring to him, when they talk about the ‘watchdog’. Maybe instead of being someone to rely on, he has become a nuisance to Victor in the end.

The blond hunk brazes his fist and punches into the wall near Yuuri’s head, damaging the plastering in the process.

Yuuri shivers. This guy is dangerously strong.

The blond smiles blindingly at the dark-haired student, who stares petrified up at him, “I look like this, but I do karate in the college club. You’re pretty careless if you consider me a love rival, little doggy!”, he claps his hands, patting Yuuri on the shoulder, before finally turning around to leave, but not without giving the figure skater further warning, “If you don’t want to end up like that wall, then please stop prowling around him, okay?”

Yuuri gulps.

That guy is so strong and cool. He wonders if that’s what they call the idol or prince type. He’s completely different from short, chubby Yuuri, who’s hair is always a mess and can’t see shit without his glasses or contacts. Victor and the blond guy would look perfect together.

Dejectedly he goes home. He needs a good film right now and something to stuff himself with, before Phichit returns from his club activities and scolds him for going against his diet **again**.

Yuuri watches a romance drama, binge-eating cookies and other snacks. On the screen a dog tries to stop the male protagonist from reaching the female lead. The man kicks down the dog and reunites with his love before the credits roll. The college student feels like crying, “He fought so bravely, but was defeated in seconds… I feel for you, watchdog!”

When his roommate comes home, he finds Yuuri curled up in his bed, his eyes swollen and his nose stuffy, a picture from Victor pressed to his chest.

Phichit seats himself next to him on his bed, “Oh Yuuri! What happened?”

But the Japanese just shakes his head, “Don’t want to talk about it. Maybe later! I need some time to myself right now. I’m sorry, Phi.”

“Okay, buddy. But when you are ready to talk about it, you know, I am always here for you! I’ll make dinner in the meantime”, his best friend pats him on the head before standing up and leaving the room.

After Yuuri calms down, he exits his room to eat dinner with Phichit, but doesn’t talk about the reason why he had cried. The Thai doesn’t push him either, knowing when the Japanese needs his distance.

The days go by one by one, nothing special happening.

Victor is always busy with preparing his skating routine for the nearing competitions and Yuuri doing the same, while studying for his tests. They still talk during breaks or from time to time on the campus. But with Victor being voted to club representative, he hasn’t got much free time and they get always interrupted during their conversations, because of some important stuff people have to discuss with the silver-haired college student. Victor always promises him to make it up to Yuuri. And the brown-eyed student just waves at him with a smile, saying that he shouldn’t push himself too much.

Everything turned a little mundane for Yuuri then.

Until **that** particular day…

The rain is pouring down on the streets relentlessly. The weather forecast yesterday had been completely wrong, promising a sunny day and a blue sky. What they got now, is a grey sky and many droplets from the clouds.

Yuuri sighs under his umbrella.

He would have liked to play hooky and stay in bed today. But as a diligent student and grateful for his parents to let him go to college, he can’t do something like that.

He stares up into the distance, when he hears some screaming and splashing. The Japanese turns to the riverside of the sidewalk and stills horrified.

Victor is swimming in the river, trying to safe a small child from drowning.

“You’re okay, so don't trash so much!”, Victor says loudly as the child in his hands wiggles dangerously around, crying, “Woah–“ A wave crashes over the Russian and pushes him under water, the child held up above the waves.

Yuuri doesn’t waste a second, he lets go of his umbrella and backpack and jumps over the fence into the water to help him. He swims through the water at an incredible speed. He knows that he might be powerless, but still – he reaches Victor and the child – he’d want to protect him. – Yuuri steadies them, placing Victor in one of the safety-holds he learned during his training as lifeguard back in Hasetsu and instructing him on how to hold the child.

They make it back to solid ground, where the mother waits for her child. The reunion between parent and kid is a heartfelt one, but Yuuri is just too exhausted to say anything, trying to ease his wildly beating heart. His mind catching up to everything that happened some seconds ago.

The mother thanks them profusely and Victor calms her down before they bid their farewell.

Yuuri silently makes his way back to get his things with Victor in tow. The rain has lit up and the sun is shining down on them. It’s nearly like a summer day, even though it is autumn. Yuuri hands the Russian his extra towel to dry himself a little. He is so angry and frustrated and hasn’t decided on how to deal with his emotions. So, he stays silent.

“Thank you!”, Victor says cheerfully, starting to laugh, “Man, I’m all wet now! Thank god, it’s such a warm day! While I was swimming, my leg slipped from all the movement and it got a little sprained and well, I was in a hurry. But good that nothing bad happened!”

Yuuri turns at that, his gaze furious, “Nothing bad happened? NOTHING BAD HAPPENED?!?”, he knows he is screaming, but he doesn’t care at the moment, “VICTOR! FOR FUCK’S SAKE! YOU COULD HAVE DROWNED! YOU COULD HAVE DIED THERE!”

The Russian looks shocked, “Yuuri, calm down. I knew, you were going–“

“YOU KNEW? YOU KNEW THAT I WAS ON THE SIDEWALK?! Then why?”, his voice loses its harshness, turning vulnerable. He knows, he is crying by now and that Victor sees it, but he doesn’t care. He’s had enough! He looks into these cerulean eyes with tears running down his cheeks, “Why didn’t you call for my help or ask me to save you? Am I that **unreliable**? Do you care so less for your own life?”

The famous figure skater gapes at him, speechless, his eyes unfocused.

And Yuuri feels his anger get the upper hand again, “IT’S ALWAYS LIKE THAT! YOU’VE NEVER LOOKED TO ME FOR HELP! FINALLY REALIZE THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE, WHO CARE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR WELL-BEING, YOU THICK-HEADED DUMBASS!”

The moment it’s out of his mouth, Yuuri wants to take it all back. What is he saying? He is just throwing a tantrum, knowing that he’ll never be the one Victor needs the most. He’ll always be just the unnecessary watchdog, not good enough for anything else.

“You’re wrong!”, Victor’s voice breaks and the Japanese college student has to look at him. Really look at him.

The Russian’s face is blotchy, his eyes and cheeks red and tears are streaming down his face as well. His nose is running and his hair stands in every direction imaginable, a lot worse than normal bed-hair.

Yuuri thinks, he hasn’t seen someone more beautiful in his whole life.

“You’re wrong, Yuuri!”, Victor sniffles, “I’ve always been a shadow to the popular ‘Victor Nikiforov’, figure skater extraordinaire. They always say all these glorious things about me. How handsome I am, how smart and great. Judging what I should do and what is way to low for my ‘standard’. Then there are the others, who giggle about me being only a good face and only having the right connections to elevate me to where I am standing now! They don’t even want to understand the **real** me! They **don’t want** **me** , they only want **him** , the fake!”, he grimaces bitterly before he continues, “It was so mortifying! That’s why I decided to become that person. Be someone people could rely on, work hard to make their delusions true or prove that they are wrong! So that I don’t feel so fake anymore! Even when I first started figure skating and even when I was elected for the strict Club Representatives’ Election, I’ve only wanted to change myself and become stronger! It’s so that maybe someone would finally look at the real uncool me and say ‘Hey, you are just fine as you are!’ or calling me amazing for coming all this way by my own efforts!”

They stare at each other in silence.

Victor averts his gaze, “I thought, you were different though… But you like the strong, reliable me as well, right Yuuri? You’d lose interest if I were weak and fragile and a mental mess. That’s why, with things like asking for your help… I just couldn’t say it…! I just…”

Yuuri reaches out his hands, gently wiping the tears on Victor’s cheeks away.

He liked the reliable Victor, who’s always flying off for someone else’s sake. However, …

He presses a kiss to the man’s cheek, which tastes of salt, “If you were that perfect, I wouldn’t be this attracted to you”, he smiles at the wide-eyed Russian, “This weak Victor, who’s here right now, I love him much more.”

Yuuri caresses the figure skater’s face gently, before he realizes what he had done just now. He flushes bright red and distances himself from the silver-haired man, who just stares at him, flushed but with unreadable eyes.

Shit, what the hell did he just say! He just confessed his true feelings to his crush, while he was crying. Shit! What if Victor is creeped out now? He should try and act as normal as possible!

“Sorry, don’t mind me! Let’s just go home quickly. You can borrow some of my clothes, my apartment is closer and we don’t want to miss our lectures, so we should hurry!”, he stutters out.

“Oh, okay. Thanks”, the Russian just responds. Was that a hitch in his voice?

And then Yuuri remembers Victor saying that he sprained his leg in the river, so he crouches down to offer him a piggy-back-ride. He turns to the silver-haired college student with his cheeks flushed, “Your leg hurts, right? I can fix it up at the apartment. So hop on!”

Victor looks at him dazed, before he seems to come back to reality, “Why? I-It was just a passing remark…”, he fidgets with his hands.

Yuuri finds it endearing, “I know”, he confesses, his ears now flaming up as well. Damn his body betraying him!

He feels hands softly pressing against his back, Victor taking a deep breath, “Okay, I’ll be in your care then. Thank you, my Yuuri.”

The Japanese feels Victor crossing his arms and position himself, so that Yuuri can carry him properly.

“O-Okay!”, the dark-haired man squeaks, before pushing up to walk to his apartment. He ignores the heat coming from Victor’s face, the small puffs of breath against his skin and the soft touch of lips, which are pressed to the back of his neck one time during their walk.

When they arrive at Yuuri’s and Phichit’s apartment, the Japanese hands Victor his biggest shirt and jeans, which are a little too big for the lithe figure of the Russian, but they fix it, so that it looks doable for the day. For once the Japanese is grateful that he was pudgy in his early teens and likes to wear baggy things. Yuuri changes as well and bandages Victor up, so that he won’t feel any pain during the day. Then he crouches down again to carry the figure skater again and this time his heart delights in Victor’s extremely red face and his sparkling eyes.

They make their way to the college campus, a lot of people staring at them and whispering to each other, some even cooing at them. But Yuuri ignores them all, feeling proud that he can be there for Victor. The Russian also presses closer to him, relaxing into the warmth of the Japanese’s back. They both laugh at nothing in particular.

And Yuuri thinks for the first time that yeah, it’s okay like this. Because there are definitely many things that he can do for the silver-haired man.

When they reach the entrance to Victor’s first lesson, the blond karate hunk waits for them, smiling while fisting his hands, “It’s not good to break promises, watchdog! Let’s have some coffee together later, okay?”

Yuuri shivers. That smiling face is sooo scary!

Victor looks up over the smaller man’s shoulder with a bored expression, “What do you **mean** by ‘ **watchdog** ', Kevin?”

“Ah, no…”, the blond man called Kevin says surprised.

The Russian smiles, “Yuuri always rushes to my side whenever I’m in trouble. He’s not my ‘ **watchdog’** ”, he presses a kiss to Yuuri’s cheek, “He’s my **hero**.”

Yuuri’s heart soars and he knows he is blushing heavily again, where everyone can see it, but he’s just too happy.

“I-Is t-that s-so…”, Kevin says, “Then I-I wish you all the best, see you!”, he turns around and vanishes.

Victor looks at Yuuri, “What a jerk, calling you a watchdog. You’re anything but that, right Yuuri? Yuuri?”

The Japanese starts crying and the Russian panics, “Why are you crying, solnyshko? Did you hurt yourself back in the river? Hey talk to me? Yuuuri?!”

Yuuri sniffs, “I-I’m sorry. It’s nothing”, he starts smiling.

His heart feels so full right now.

Victor slides down from his back and caresses his cheek with a concerned expression on his face, “Then why are you still crying?”

Yuuri wants to say that he was crying tears of joy.

Wants to tell him that he’s always loved him, wondering how he could manage to stand beside someone with such a beautiful heart.

That he likes how Victor smiles, especially his heart-shaped smile, which raises butterflies in his stomach every time he sees it.

He wants to say that he wants to propose to Victor someday and that they should raise a dozen of puppies together after marriage.

But right here, right now, Yuuri only manages to stutter incoherent words and cry harder.

Victor just holds him close, stroking his back gently, pressing kisses to his cheek, his forehead and his hair to calm him.

When they marry five years later, Yuuri’s friends, Phichit, Yuuko and Takeshi, have a lot of fun retelling the love story between Victor and Yuuri from their perspective with photographic and film evidence to back up their fairy tale. Chris also reveals many hidden secrets from Victor’s side like what the Russian was looking at on his phone, before he got distracted and nearly fell down the stairs in college.

If you also want to know as well, what let Victor smile and get distracted on his phone to slip on the stairs, it was a particular picture, taken by the silver-haired college student himself during one of his practice sessions the second week of his first year in college:

Yes, the photo was featuring one Yuuri Katsuki, skating alone on the ice rink with a dreamy expression, concentrating on his step sequence.

So yes, there we have it.

Victor has always been a sucker for Yuuri, starting with the moment when they met for the first time.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my story^^  
> I hope you enjoyed it. <3  
> If you liked it, I'm happy for some Kudos and Comments^^  
> The original is really cute as well, if you want to give it a shot!
> 
> Stay healthy!
> 
> Love,  
> Ria


End file.
